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Anti-Graffiti Program

What is Graffiti?

Any writing or drawing placed on any surface of public or private property, without the owner’s consent is graffiti vandalism. The criminal offence is Mischief Under $5000, and can be found under Sec. 430 (1) in the Criminal Code of Canada.

Both the City and District of North Vancouver have Graffiti Bylaws, which prohibit graffiti and hold the owner of the property responsible for removing it.

The North Vancouver RCMP believes that controlling graffiti, will actively prevent other crime from occurring in the community. We also recognize that graffiti is a complex problem that is best solved with a team approach. The North Vancouver RCMP has thus partnered up with the City and District of North Vancouver Bylaw Services, and volunteers at our Community Policing Centres, to implement an Anti-Graffiti Program.

The goal of the Anti-Graffiti Program is three fold: Eradication, Education, and Enforcement.

Eradication

The focus is on encouraging the public to report graffiti as soon as they see it, and getting it removed as soon as possible.

Education

Sharing graffiti prevention tips with residents and business owners, and warning youths about the dangers and health risks associated to producing graffiti.

Enforcement

The North Vancouver RCMP’s role is to focus on catching graffiti vandals and recommending criminal charges or alternative measures when appropriate.

North Vancouver City and District Bylaw Officers encourage Bylaw compliance, but must occasionally use enforcement options.

What can you do?

Remove It

If your property gets tagged with graffiti, please get rid of it as best as you can.

Bylaw Enforcement can become quite costly. But if that’s not enough incentive, studies have shown that graffiti tags left up almost always attract more graffiti and other crime to the area. Therefore, it is in the owners’ and the community’s best interest, that graffiti be removed as soon as it is discovered.

Report It

If you see graffiti vandalism in progress, immediately call 9-1-1 and report it to Police.

If you know of or have information about an individual(s) involved in graffiti vandalism, you may report it to the North Vancouver RCMP non-emergency number at 604-985-1311

City of North Vancouver

To report graffiti on private property (residential or business), or public property owned by the City:

Visit www.cnv.org and follow these instructions to find online reporting.

In the Search box, enter graffiti on-line reporting.

Or call City of North Vancouver Bylaws at 604-969-7378

District of North Vancouver

To report graffiti seen on private property (residential or business), or public property ownedby the District:

Send a message to bylaws@dnv.org. Please include the location of the graffiti (address or intersection), type of surface and your contact name and number.

Or call District of North Vancouver Bylaws at 604-990-2400 and leave a message.You may be contacted by a Bylaw Enforcement Officer for further information.

Call Volunteers

For assistance with reporting, you can also contact volunteers at the North Vancouver Community Policing Centres by calling City Volunteers at (604)969-7465 and District Volunteers at 604-990-2342.

Volunteers have contact numbers for reporting graffiti on Crown Corporation owned property such as BC Hydro, Canada Post, BC Transit and other property such as newspaper boxes.

Volunteer

If you feel as passionate as we do about keeping our neighbourhoods clean and safe, call our Volunteers to see how you can get involved. We also coordinate Graffiti Clean-up events that involve the community.

If you have any questions or suggestions regarding the Anti-Graffiti Program in North Vancouver, please feel free to contact: